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HARRISBURG - A $28.375 billion state budget bill that boosts spending for education and law enforcement was signed by Gov. Tom Corbett with two hours to spare before a midnight Sunday deadline.

The measure, approved 33-17 by the Senate and 111-92 by the House, provides a roughly 2 percent increase in state spending in fiscal 2013-14 and includes an additional $122 million for basic education. The final basic education subsidy is $32 million higher than what the governor proposed last winter, according to Senate Republican leaders.

Lawmakers still need to give final approval to the accompanying fiscal code, school code and welfare code bills that complete the budget package. A House Democratic caucus spokesman described these bills as an "operator's manual" for the budget.

The Senate voted 40-10 to approve a welfare code bill that sets conditions for Pennsylvania's participation in a federally guided expansion of Medicaid health coverage for thousands of low-income adults. The bill would also expand from 20 to 30 the number of counties participating in a state block grant for human services programs.

The welfare code bill faces uncertain prospects in the House, which plans to be in session today. But action on two of Mr. Corbett's top priorities - transportation funding and privatizing the state-owned liquor stores - is off until lawmakers return from summer recess in the fall.

The two issues appear increasingly intertwined in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Mr. Corbett expressed disappointment that the transportation and liquor bills weren't passed in the spring session

He said he will continue to press for action and noted that the current legislative session doesn't end until late 2014.

"It's the end of the first quarter," Mr. Corbett said. "We have three more quarters to go."

Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said it is premature to say whether he will order any of some 1,200 vulnerable state bridges weight-restricted this summer because of the lack of a transportation bill.

"We are very close to a bipartisan solution on transportation," Mr. Schoch said. The budget boosts spending for the pre-K childhood education program by $4.5 million and Head Start by $2 million and keeps state aid for public universities at current levels, said Senate Appropriations Chairman Jake Corman, R-34, Bellefonte. Democratic lawmakers criticized it for not reversing the impact of previous education cuts. Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane of Waverly Twp. receives state funding for several crime-fighting initiatives she pushed for. These include $2.5 million for a state mobile street crime unit to tackle neighborhood crime, $4.3 million for child predator interceptor units and $11.7 million for drug strike task forces. Ms. Kane plans to deploy the street crime unit first to Hazleton. The state police receives an additional $14.8 million that will help pay for three trooper training classes of nearly 300 cadets.

The budget provides $108,000 to increase salaries for 50 senators and $405,000 to raise salaries and benefits for 203 House lawmakers, reflecting higher health insurance costs and to cover whatever pay increases are provided through an automatic cost-of-living salary adjustment under terms of a 1995 state law. The salary for 2014 is announced at year's end.

"The budget is a responsible plan that increases spending for law enforcement, safe school grants, the Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, regional cancer institutes and critical access hospitals in rural areas," said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, Lehman Twp.

Sen. John Yudichak, D-14, Nanticoke, voted for the budget saying it marks a turnaround in spending for public education and community colleges and funds the mobile street crime unit.

"This is the first year under Corbett that the General Assembly was able to blunt the assault on education," he said.

Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre, criticized the budget for not providing more aid for school districts with revenue generated from a severance tax on natural gas drilling and closing business tax loopholes.

"It doesn't undo the damage that has been inflicted," said Rep. Neal Goodman, D-123, Mahanoy City.

Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166, Haverford, ranking Democrat on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, criticized new transfers from the state Oil and Gas Fund to support the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Mr. Vitali called it a conflict of interest to have the agency overseeing state parks and forests rely on revenue coming from gas and oil drilling.

The Senate also approved a fiscal code bill that narrows the scope of the so-called Delaware Loophole that allows businesses headquartered in other states to avoid paying the state Corporate Net Income Tax on their operations here and extends the complete phase-out of the state Capital Stock and Franchise Tax from 2014 to 2016. Both moves are designed to bring more state revenue in fiscal 2013-14.

This same bill would enable a limited number of third-class cities to compete for inclusion in a new urban development program. This program would create Revitalization and Improvement Zones where cities could use the state taxes they pay to underwrite their own bonds to finance development projects.

First tried in Allentown, the measure creates a pilot program allowing eight third-class cities - including Wilkes-Barre - with populations greater than 30,000 to compete for available spots.

Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to include all third-class cities and Scranton, a 2nd Class A city, as eligible for the program.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

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